What Is Siacoin? Introduction to SC

This Blockchain-based version of Dropbox has investors swinging from the chandelier

Siacoin found a niche worth billions. Cloud storage is a big business, estimated at $178 billion as of late 2017. Amazon, Dropbox, Microsoft, and Google compete with other heavy hitters to convince users to store data on their cloud servers.

Despite general perception, cloud storage is just a buzzword for “give me your data,” as the “cloud” is just someone else’s server.

The idea of separate computers and networks sharing data with each other isn’t far-fetched. In fact, it’s the entire basis of the modern Internet. So, has Sia invented Internet 4.0 by creating a peer-to-peer storage-as-a-service solution for the blockchain?

Before answering that question, let’s review the Siacoin and its pricing history.

About the Siacoin

As of May 5, 2018, Siacoin has a market cap of $922,986,218, based on a price of $0.026955 per coin and a circulating supply of 34,242,125,414 SC. The bulk of Siacoin trading occurs on Bittrex and Upbit, and both Bitcoin and Ethereum are its trading pairs.

Siacoin’s wallet is the only way to store SC, and the currency is used to power transactions in the Sia ecosystem. Essentially host servers are providers and client servers are users. Users compensate hosts in Siacoin for hosting user data in a free-market crypto-economy.

Meanwhile $23,018,500 worth of Siacoin is traded every day, and investors wonder if the coin has any value unless the Sia network gains a billion users. We can only speculate how strong the business is, but indicators show the product has a strong chance of survival, so long as its equipped to handle tomorrow’s security problems.

Cysco Systems estimates over 50 billion smart devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020, compared to just under 8 billion people living on the planet right now. Botnets and cryptojackers exploit unsecured devices like security cameras, video game consoles, smart lights, and DVRs in addition to our computers and mobile devices.

While an individual device is limited in its power and capability, we’ve seen botnets like Srizbi, Reaper, and Mirai threaten to take the Internet to its knees. Even major storage providers like Amazon (and Dyn, who hosts the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) infrastructure), have been crippled by these powerful cloud-computing options.

Sia isn’t wrong in what it hopes to create, and the technology is solid. P2P file storage is a proven model, as seen with torrents, the Tor browser, and other models.

However, Sia may need to create a botnet of its own to force fast enough adoption. And while its encryption is impressive, it’s only a matter of time before a new botnet, this time powered by artificial intelligence, hits the scene with ways to exploit the Sia network.

If our lights and phones can be used against us, who’s to say the Sia network is 100% impervious to manipulation, infection, etc.?

The bottom line is nothing connected to the Internet is ever 100% safe, but there are legal checks and balances in place to protect us alongside technical ones.

Sia’s storage ecosystem is brilliant in design, but its as-yet unproven in execution on a mass adoption scale to compete with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox.

Sia’s Roadmap to the Future

While Sia isn’t being mass adopted yet, it’s not exactly a ghost town. And it’s not the only project Siatech is working on.

Siacoin founder David Vorrick also has an ASIC manufacturing company called Obelisk, a competitor to ASIC-mining giant Bitmain. When Monero pushed back against Bitmain’s ASIC mining rigs, Siacoin welcomed them, so long as they didn’t compromise the Sia network and values.

Like many in the crypto industry, Sia is focused on decentralization, and mining rigs specially built for a blockchain’s algorithms can quickly monopolize an entire cryptocurrency.

Sia’s file contract system is like an Airbnb or Lyft of cloud storage, and the miners will only be processing these storage agreements between users and providers. Security measures are in place to ensure the provider has the service promised. Using proof of storage, proofs must be sent to the network within a certain timeframe before penalizing the provider.

The provider can’t ever access the user’s data without a key and simply acts as a storage facility. Free-market pricing in an eBay-like environment are sure to drive costs down from major providers like Amazon, which can charge up to $23 a month for 1TB of data storage, along with transfer fees for upload/download.

Sia’s unique p2p storage model could disrupt the cloud industry just like the transportation industry was disrupted by ride-sharing platforms like Uber.

The major hurdle, however, is convincing people to adopt not only cloud storage, but blockchain technology.

Like the two older cats at the pound who must be adopted together, it’s a tough sell to most… but there’s always that person who falls in love with at first sight.

Summary

Sia has a lot going for it, and it’s not hard to see why investors and early adopters are excited. This blockchain-based cloud-storage solution is a trend in every industry. Sia is poised for success with a mix of these key ingredients:

The Sia network is a P2P cloud storage marketplace that uses blockchain technology to track smart contracts between users and providers.

Sia uses a proof of storage validation model, along with strong encryption to provide data security.

Siacoin is used to pay storage providers, and it can also be mined by contract processors.

Sia is best described as the blockchain-based lovechild of Airbnb and Dropbox and can only succeed if it pushes for quick mass adoption.

Should Sia succeed in its mission, it’s going to make a lot of people very wealthy in the process. However, until it does, it’s going to enjoy a healthy shelf life as an altcoin pair with Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst and Operations Manager at Bank of America turned whistleblower and freelance writer. In addition to Crypto Briefing, you can find his work focusing on financial regulations on Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post, and his blog, Thought for Your Penny.

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